White Beaches and Azure Seas
FROM this southern point of Africa began the exploration, settlement and oft-times exploitation, of South Africa and the hinterland, starting with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1652.
Here, the white man first encountered the Khoi and San people (Bushmen), but he also encountered a region with a raw, natural beauty (home to one of the world's six floral kingdoms), enveloped by granite and sandstone cliffs and mountains.
Nowhere is this stunning beauty more visible than in the Cape Peninsula - an "island" of mountain surrounded by white beaches and azure seas, and which some even claim is a remnant of the lost continent of Atlantis.
Under the magnificent Table Mountain nestles the region's principal city and gateway of Cape Town.
The Peninsula and it's peoples' attachment to Africa does seem tenuous at times. Here one meets a cultural diversity and vibrancy which is as unique in Africa as the region's Mediterranean climate, which provides hot dry summers and cool, wet winters.
The Western Cape is the core of the wine and deciduous fruit industry in South Africa, and no visit to the region is complete without a visit to a few of the numerous wine estates, centered around Stellenbosch and Paarl.
Don't forget to take a few bottles home!
Beyond the fold-mountains which encircle and protect this area,is a vast semi-arid region called the Karoo. Here, the stars definitely twinkle brighter than elsewhere on earth, but one will also find more wine farms, ostrich farms, artistic villages and communities and an unhurried way of life.
Along the Southern Coast is the Overberg Region, where Southern Right Whales court and cavort and give birth between August and October. Eastwards from here, lies the aptly named Garden Route.
Sun-seekers will enjoy the Western Cape between December and March, when the days are warm and long. From June to September, the region celebrates its "Green Season", so if one enjoys soft rain and walking on a deserted, mist-shrouded beach, then add it to your itinerary.
Along the low-lying west coast and into the mountains which form the escarpment, an annual riot of color sweeps the area between August and October as wild flowers bloom in abundance following the winter rains.
